Ways to Stay Organized and Productive

Staying organized is key to staying productive. This can help you at work, school and in all other aspects of your life. Staying organized can not only increase your productivity but it can also impact other areas of your life. Operating in a clean and organized space can help you feel like you have better control which is a vital part of stress management, resilience and overall well being. Here are some tips and strategies that can help.

Find a planner or productivity tool that helps you

Using a calendar or planner to help you plan out your day and write down your tasks will help you stay on track for the day. Having an organized planner can help you keep track of all of your assignments and appointments, which will ensure that you don’t miss anything important. In your calendar you can also check off the tasks that you have already completed helping you keep track of everything you still need to do. Checking off items and seeing what you have already completed can help you feel a sense of accomplishment and make you feel more motivated. 

Manage your time

There are many different techniques you can use to manage your time such as Timeboxing, the pomodoro technique and something called Eat the Frog. Timeboxing is when, for each task, you create a goal for when you would like to finish it. Timeboxing helps ensure that tasks take only as long as you let them take. The Pomodoro technique is when you allot 25 minutes to do your work and then take a 5 minute break in between each 25 minute slot. This allows you to hyper focus on work for 25 minutes and get as much done as you possibly can. The last technique is called Eat the Frog, this comes from the Mark Twain quote “ If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.” Basically this means that you should tackle your most difficult/important tasks first and then work backwards from there. 

Establish a Routine

Having a set routine will help you turn your daily tasks into a habit. Having a schedule can help you stay more organized and help you get through your week easier. For example, if you make it a habit to check your email everyday at 10am then it will make it harder to procrastinate once this becomes part of your routine. You won’t need as much motivation to get started on your tasks because it will become natural and automatic. 

Eliminate Distractions

Staying focused can be difficult so to make it easier it is a good idea to eliminate as many distractions as possible. A way to eliminate distractions is by turning your phone on do not disturb. This can silence your notifications so that they create less of a distraction for you. It could also help if you do your work in a neutral environment where there are no distractions in the room. Make sure that it is quiet and somewhere where people will not bother you.

Staying organized is the key to staying productive and this will help you be successful in your everyday life. Finding what works for you is vital to making sure that you stay organized. Different things work for different people, so ensuring that you find the right fit will ensure that it will keep working for you.

-Hannah Brown, Co-op Student